Rebirth of Civil War
by 4fireking
Summary: The Civil War was a terrible war. The super weapons known as Teigu brought destruction and death upon the Empire that made them. Groups were made, having Teigu users and regulars alike, but some only had Teigu users. Iron Griffin was one such group. Made during the Civil War they have found a new rival group known as Night Raid.
1. Chapter 1

**This is my first Akame ga Kill fanfiction. Until a month ago I didn't even know there were Akame ga Kill fanfictions. I wouldn't say it's my favorite fanfiction but it does have a lot of imagination and good characters. And that battle with Wave and Tatsumi is awesome. Anyways, I had help with this chapter. It was edited by KidfireRyuu. Please read and review. **

XXX

Tatsumi awoke from his terrible dream. Well, it wasn't quite a dream. It was a old memory of his two best friends Sayo and Leyasu. He remembered how happy he was leaving the village. He felt like a hero. He was going to somehow make money with Sayo and Leyasu and they would bring it back to help the village. That was what was supposed to happen.

Tatsumi found out just how cruel the world could be and how journeys don't always work out the way they were planned. He lost more than just money on this search...he lost his friends...he lost his morality...he couldn't even look in the mirror without seeing the image of Aria and her parents, the ones who tortured and killed the people he cared about...so he killed her. He killed the daughter right in front of two dangerous assassins. He didn't think about killing her only that she deserved to die. Maybe he was doing it for himself but his last remaining friend Leyasu died happy when he did it. He wasn't seen as any different from the assassins who carried him away after he killed his first human being.

After getting to the base, he got to meet all the assassins. There's Akame, a young girl with long black hair and red eyes, everyone in this guild seemed to fear her despite her young age. Her sword skills and speed could decapitate Tatsumi faster than a fly being crushed by a fly swatter. She seemed to have no remorse for the people she killed, but everyone else here seemed to be the same. They wouldn't be good assassins if they cared about who they kill or had nightmares after killing them. An assassin who seemed to want him dead was the lavender girl with guns Mine, another young girl in her teens, she kept her glare on Tatsumi ever since she met him, only ever stopping to mock him or tease him. The lighter lavender girl Sheele, was a slightly older woman offering some encouraging words and a kind smile to Tatsumi whenever he looked her way.

After explaining Night Raid and all it does, Tatsumi heard nothing he liked, almost neurotically, he got to go to bed. Najenda told him to rest because they'll start their first mission with him. Tatsumi didn't want to rest. If he had to kill another human being or take a non-monsters life he'd rather die.

"I never had anyone in my life who loved me either."

Tatsumi stopped slouching on the bed and stood up. His mind told him someone was in this room but his memory didn't recognize who was speaking. The man wasn't someone he recognized from Night Raid. He was only 4'8". If he was in Night Raid he was the shortest member right next to Mine. His hair was brown in the front and blue in the back. His clothes consisted of brown robes, grey shorts, and brown boots. On his back was a sword much like Tatsumi's, only his was shorter and had a picture of a blue wolf emblazed on it.

"Are you part of Nightraid?" Tatsumi asked.

"You're being treated like a dog, kid," The man said looking at Tatsumi for the first time. Tatsumi noticed there was a small scar above his right eye. "But don't worry about that. First they'll treat you like a dog and then they'll treat you like one of them, an assassin and a murder, but also a friend of theirs. They'll send you on missions where you have to kill or be killed. There's no escaping from them. If you run, they'll hunt you down and stick a blade through your throat."

"Who are you?" Tatsumi was very worried about this man. He seemed to be talking to himself rather than Tatsumi. It was like he was in his own little world, obvious to the people around him.

"I knew a man in Night Raid. A good man with a good heart… well, a good heart for someone who kills others at least. He left our guild so he could join Night Raid. He left us the day before our guild was destroyed and half of us were killed. There's only five of us left, but do you know what the funny thing is? He was right to leave. If he stayed we'd have one more man to worry about and that would bring the downfall of our entire group. Rest his soul for he was a good man. Pray to him that he went where our other members have gone and that I will join him in eternal bliss."

Tatsumi almost asked him again what his name was. But it occurred to him that he wasn't going to get anything else out of him, so he zipped his mouth shut and just let the man talk to himself. He waited until at long last the man asked him a question that involved him.

"You were trained, correct? Not by your parents but by a teacher, correct?" The man asked suddenly looking up at Tatsumi.

"Y-Yes," Tatsumi stuttered wondering what it had to do with him.

"This trainer…he taught you to be good and always obey orders like a good soldier?"

"He did."

"I was taught that same thing. My teacher was a little on the strange side. He liked things that didn't make sense or weren't relevant to anything. But the things he taught us helped us become better killers. Believe it or not… he was even alive in the Civil War."

"B-But that happened five hundred years ago!" Tatsumi exclaimed.

"Indeed. Would you like to hear his story?" The man stopped, heard footsteps.


	2. Chapter 2

**Sorry it took so long for the second chapter but I didn't really have a plot after the first one. I only think of one chapter at a time until I can imagine a perfect ending in my mind. KidfireRyuu did edit this chapter. I hope I can get more followers after this chapter. Please read and review. **

XXX

The creaking of a door made Tatsumi stare while it opened, Mine swings it open fully and frowns at him with her hands on her hips.

"Grab your sword and come downstairs." Mine stated

Tatsumi ignores her in favor of glancing around the room looking for the man he was just talking to, but he vanished. Seeing he wasn't paying any attention, Mine got angry.

"I'm over here now MOVE!" She shouted at the boy.

Tatsumi quickly stopped looking and grabs his sword before quickly following Mine downstairs

XXX

_'How did I get into this?'_ Tatsumi wonders, they were moving towards a bandit camp someone tipped them off on, so then they were ordered to 'take care' of the problem. Tatsumi feels the wind blowing through his hair at a rapid pace as he rides on Bulat's armored back, he doesn't want to die and he knows he can't fight Night Raid so he decides to just help them fight the bandits.

As Night Raid rushed towards the camp, a man watched them approach the camp, the same man who was in Tatsumi's room just before they left. Taking a deep breath he smells something he's unfamiliar with but recognizes the smell as blood infused with chemical on a member of his assassin team's jacket.

"I knew you couldn't stay away from me, Kitixen," said the man turning his back to the woods and jumping from his tree near the bushes.

A girl emerged from the bushes, she has mocha dark skin and was wearing an orange shirt with a black gloved hand of claws and her Teigu are marks on her arms, the man gets closer to her and they kiss but then she slaps him.

"Ninety days I have been looking for you and this is where I find you?" She asked in a loud angry tone. Her ascent was proper because she was raised in a richer home than the man who talked to Tatsumi. His cheeks were bright red and he rubbed his cheeks.

"I'm sorry. When the guild was separated I thought you and everyone else was gone," the man said nonchalantly rubbing his sore cheek.

"If they did then why would I be here?"

"We'll talk about that later. Right now I need your Animal Conjuring Teigu." Kitixen says as she looks at her hands and lets them erupt in purple flames, she raises them into the sky and uses it to create a ghost owl. The owl flies away silently.

Her eyes turned purple but she still moves around meaning she's not paralyzed then her eyes slowly lose the colour and returns to normal.

"They went to a bandit camp…they're killing lots of bandits. They seem to be without their leader Najenda."

"Najenda? Wasn't she one of the original members of Five Demon God's?"

"She was, but she seems to have no memory of it. That means she no longer counts as an original member."

"That's only two remaining members left?" Kitixen nodded her head. The man put his hand on his chin when he asked his next question as if he was in tableau.

"How many members are left?"

"Ten. You, me, the two originals, and six others."

"Ten? That's half of our guild." It was disappointing to the man to hear half of those brother and sister assassins who he shed blood with and worked together were now gone, but no one lives forever, not even their leader would live forever. Besides, what was more important to him was finding the boy Tatsumi.

"I need your help to get to the camp." Kitixen didn't ask anything, she simply let her eyes and hands turn purple again to create a monster bird. It has thorns on its tail and a large hideous mouth that could swallow one hundred little birds. It grabs the man's shirt by the husk and drags him over the forest.

The wind blows though his hair as he was carried over the forest to where Night Raid were fighting bandits. The bird drops him to the ground, but as he falls the core of his body started to glow a strange light. Then a figure that could be his twin appears made out of water. It surrounds him in a balloon of air and bubbles and levitates him over the ground before popping.

The man landed on he's feet looking around for any sigh of Tatsumi, seeing none he walks to the cave where the last camp of bandits were. Suddenly a red haired bandit male with a normal saber appears, he was shirtless, his pants were baggy and old and he had a red bandana covering his mouth.

He was nervously looking around and constantly readjusting his grip on the saber, he was shaking all over because he's young and afraid of death. The man expects him to run away but he charges at him; good. He swings his sword back and forth like an amateur and not even close to the man's level. All the man has to do is unsheathe his sword a little and block with the tip of the sword and the man falls down clumsily. The man grabs his arm and puts his sword to youth's neck.

"You have great courage for someone who didn't want to fight me," he said. The bandit shook through his boots at what the man was going to do to him now that he was holding him hostage. The man smirked and pushed the bandit away from him.

"Leave before I change my mind. And don't run north whatever you do. There's an assassin base that way. Run left and keep running that way until you find a cart back to town."

The young man quickly nods and scrambles to his feet, grateful for the mercy. Soon, the bandit does what the man says and runs away from him towards the town.

The man walks into the cave with the camp where all the remaining eight bandits gets up and raise their swords at the intruder.

"It's another one of those bastard assassins that killed my friends!" A tall man who seemed to be in charge yelled.

"Looks like he's all alone," A middle aged man said. "He must be some new recruit who thinks he can handle us all by himself."

"Let's make him completely red with crimson!" The leader said.

On a silent signal, all the bandits charge towards the man, but then a vertigo seal, a circle that's spinning, opens in his neck and then a strong gust of wind blows them all away to the walls.

"What the hell was that?" The leader asked.

"I don't know. It felt like we were kicked back by a group of horses." One of the other's commented.

"Whatever happened couldn't have come from this guy. He's too small to be anything other than a nuisance. Let's kill him and leave before the other assassins find us."

Feeling confident, the bandits all charged towards the man. He makes a disappointed face at them all _'Such a pity, they should have taken my last attack as a warning and ran_.' He thinks as they came closer to him.

He shakes his head at them and hardens his eyes until they were cold and merciless. Something comes out of his body. It looks like a mannequin in the form of a wooden doll that has no distinct image of anyone or even a mouth, and then it starts to look like the man.

"W-What is that?" Asked a younger bandit.

"He's got one of those Teigu's!" Another answered.

"That's right," he smirked. "Mine is a rare Teigu. The Body of Undermining Personalities. In order to use this Teigu I had to give up four of my most valued personalities: friendship, honesty, love, and feeling. Those personalities are split into four elemental bodies of myself...water, fire, earth, and wind. What stinks about my Teigu is I can only ever use one body at a time."

With a grin at the terrified bandits, the man summoned a body that creates fire and he uses it to spiral around the bandits. It burns the tall one and the kills the rest, because the man was immune to the flames and slashes them with his sword.

The sound of footsteps reached the man's ears and he quickly turns to greet the new visitors. Night Raid appears, with every member except Najenda. They came looking for the bandits but instead they find the man on top of a pile of the dead bandits.

"Night Raid," he said nonchalantly. "You came before I could tidy up."

"Who are you?" Asked Leone.

"Everyone's always asking for my name." He stated. "Do you want to guess how many of these dead losers heads I can juggle with my eyes close?" Night Raid stared at him with disapproval and gripped onto their weapons looking. "Awoi always laughed when I did it for him. I don't really have a name because I don't have parents. You can call me Chiton or Ian. I always liked the name Ian. Ian was the name of my old black boyfriend. Rest his soul he was a very interesting man."

"Stop wasting our time and tell us why you killed those bandits!" Shouted Mine.

"Do. Not. Yell. At. Me. We are inside. People are listening." Ian said walking back and forth tossing his hands in the air.

"I'd hate to tell you...but we are in the woods!" Mine huffed.

"I don't like girls who are loud. You know what they say about having a loud voice." Ian said "Actually, what do they say about having a loud voice?"

"Are you going to tell us your real name or keep acting like a crazy person forever?" Leone asked.

"I can say the same thing. I just did your work for you and so far no one has given me a thank you." Ian commented.

"We're not going to give you a thank you...you monster." Bulat firmly stated.

"I'm a monster? Is it because I kill people? That means nothing to me coming from Night Raid. If you are going to treat me different than yourselves than I'll only talk to Tatsumi."

"He knows you...you know him?" Sheele asked.

"I don't know anything about him. He just showed up in my room and spewed nonsense about his master and who trained me." Tatsumi answered.

"Wrong. I galvanized you into learning how to be a better assassin. What does Night Raid do? They extort money from people through means of conning people and stealing from the dead. They also take people against their wills in order for them to become members. That is creepy. Do you know how my guild makes money and finds new members? We find rare animals and trade them, we work for rich people who pay money for good jobs and after they pay us...we kill them too. The world's better without rich people who think they can do what they want. Lastly, we find members from a list of people of different districts who have the best talent at killing. But other than those means I don't see how Night Raid and Iron Griffin are different."

"Night Raid is my home. It is better than any assassin guild you associated yourself with." Akame told him.

"That can easily be tested. How many of you are there in this cave? Six…seven? There's only one me in this room. You know what I'm asking…challenging you to a fight."

"He can't be serious. My Teigu gives me the power of super strength." Leone puffed.

"Very good. Maybe I'll use my Teigu to persuade you into killing your friends." Everyone has a nervous look when they looked at his vapid expression when he said it, then he smiles. "Just kidding. My Teigu doesn't allow me to control people. Just ask my other self."


	3. Chapter 3

**KidfireRyuu helped me with this chapter. The first time I posted this chapter I forgot to mention his name. But he or she deserves recognition for what they did. Please read and review. **

XXX

Leona is confused. The man points behind her and she looks. A figure made of rocks who looks like the man punches her. Leona recovers, goes right after the man but is stopped by his other form protecting him. There's a battle between Leona and it, the man wins switching from earth to water suffocating her until Bulet and Sheele appear.

" Two of you at the same time?" Ian smirks at his luck. " Confront me too. I have many aspects of a great swordsman."

The man initiates his skills with a sword charging at Bulat. Even though his sword swings cannot penetrate his armor it leaves scratch marks. Sheele attacks the man from behind seemingly cutting off his legs. Except the blood turns to transparent liquid and the man looks like a humanoid slime.

" It looks like I have some explaining to do." Sheele is slashed in the back by Ian. His slash left a long curved cut wound in her back. " You thought that the water in my clone was real? It was only liquid slime."

Ian man pulls out letting Sheele fall to the ground. Bulat tries to avenge her, but his form changes into fire and burns him away.

' _You_ _should have just left Night Raid alone, you monster,'_ Mine thought in anger.

Mine was going to use Pumpkin, but then from the ground a hand of rocks grabs her leg.

" He's only got your leg. Shoot him." Lubbock said.

But she doesn't because the hand pulls her down and another hand glances her chin. When she's down Lubbock attacks the man, but his teigu is stopped by the one that's wind. After beating him up a few times he is released. Now it's just Akane against the man.

" You see now why my assassin guild is the best? Even if you use all your members, fight me on your turf, or punch me in the legs you cannot win. It's because your teigu' are weak."

It's down to Akame and Ian. Akame charges in and slashes her sword at him.

"Consign." Akame said in a cold voice.

Ian repeatedly dodges her swings. Then he jumps against the wall and sliced downwards towards Akame's skull, Akane of course blocks his attack.

"She's incredible." Tatsumi mumbled.

Akame uses her speed to attack but Ian thought faster than her, predicting her attacks and blocking them.

"Eliminate."

Ian continues to block. He even blocks a fatal cut mark that would go through his neck. Akame attacks again but he ducks under her and tosses her away by grabbing her foot.

"You're using the Murasame," Ian was smiling and drawling to Akame. "It's a good Teigu. I would love to have it as my weapon. It's a shame that Teigu wouldn't want to be mine. Teigu do chose their owners after all. Those who Teigu reject them will go insane."

"You're already insane." Akame stated.

"Yes," Ian admitted putting his right hand on his cheek. "I barely feel anything. Everything I say is a lie. A thousand girls could be in their underwear right now and I wouldn't feel any love towards any of them even if they all loved me or if I had children with them. I also can never trust anyone. I hear voices in my head telling me someday those people will betray me."

Ian uses his Teigu to fight against Akame. He uses Water clone against her because it's his favorite clone. He gives the clone his sword.

The Teigu uses the slime under its body to climb up the walls and attack Akame in every direction. Akame is able to block the slash, and block the next slashes, sparks flying off her Teigu, when she finally slashes him right through his throat. Nothing happens.

"Are you surprised because your Teigu didn't work?" Akame's red eyes glanced at Ian who was laughing. "Your Teigu may have poison in it but my clone is made of slime and water. Do you really think you can eliminate my clone?"

"I can eliminate you."

Akame dashes towards Ian with her hands on the handle of her katana. She tries slashing Ian but he does the unthinkable and grabs her Teigu out of her hand and smacks her in the back of the head. She stumbles but turns around and fights him. The problem is the slime comes and blocks her legs.

"Tell me, wouldn't it have been smarter to use your trump card against me?" Akame stared at Ian showing him no emotion and no fear. Ian felt no feeling but he smiled, just because he had no feelings didn't mean he couldn't enjoy himself. "You really don't know? You don't know how to use your trump card? Such a shame you didn't study this weapon before using it. To activate this weapon's trump card you have to scratch yourself with it. Once you scratch yourself with this weapon the power hidden deep inside it will be unlocked."

Ian puts the weapon close to Akame's throat. Then he makes sure the weapon is close to her throat but not touching her when he kisses her. But when he kisses her she bits his lips. Blood comes out of his lips but Ian is laughing because he can't feel anything.

"Ian!" Ian looks down and sees his elemental clone has become an exact clone of himself. "Something's happened to me."

"Yes, me. Something has to be done about it." Ian puts his hand on his chin and thinks to himself. "We'll have to find Kitixen and ask her for the Teigu book to tell us what is wrong with the Teigu. Can you still enter my body?"

"Why can't I walk around with you?" Asked the clone.

"Because you're a clone linked to my body. If one of you dies my arm or leg will turn black and I'll never be able to use it or you ever again."

Ian leaves. Tatsumi makes a spectacle of himself taking out his sword and trying to stop Ian from leaving. Tatsumi slashes, misses. Ian pets Tatsumi on his head.

"Don't worry, Tatsumi. As long as I'm here your fate of dying will never happen."

He leaves. He dropped Akame's sword near her. Everyone is still unconscious on the ground but Tatsumi and he wonders who the guy was.

It didn't take long for the first assassin to make a fool of Night Raid to find his assassin comrade Kitixen. She was sleeping against a healthy looking apple tree. It took longer for Ian to wake her by shaking her elbow. Suddenly, she grabbed Ian and started to squeeze him. When Kitixen hugged him it looked like a Danger Beast crushing the life out of him. If Ian could still feel anything it would feel like that women with the animal ears was crushing him.

"Let go of me!" Ian shouted.

Kitixen opened her eyes. She let out a loud gasp holding Ian and let go of him, and then she slapped him. She was feeling hot and angry. She covered her boobs and glared at Ian.

"Don't give me that!" Ian said like a brother arguing with his little sister. "You were squeezing me with those brawny hands. You almost cracked my wind pipe."

"I don't believe you. You could've transformed into wind and teleport out of my hands."

"That's what I was going to tell you. I lost my powers." Kitixen didn't believe Ian until his clone grew out of his back.


	4. Chapter 4

**This is the longest chapter I've written for the story so far and I am sorry if there are any mistakes in it. I had the usual help for it and an author named Western White Tiger. Thank you for putting up with the slow updates and review. **

XXX

"You lost your powers?" Kitixen asked. "But why are you able to make clones of yourself now?"

"I don't know." Ian mumbled. "I was fighting this girl with a rare Teigu and then I tried turning into my wind clone but only human clones came out."

"Should we wait until you have your clones can turn into elements again?" Kitixen asked.

"It's not important right now. All I want is to find the rest of the members so we can become a guild again."

"You shouldn't look for them in this condition." Kitixen thought for a second. "I know an abandoned barn where we can lay low until your Teigu is working again."

"Teigu's can never be repaired after being broken." Ian told her. "Besides, my Teigu is inside my body. If anything is wrong with my Teigu it's because something is happening to me. You know you look really pretty. Is it something you did with your hair?"

"Are you telling me I'm beautiful?" She smiled. "Where did you find your Teigu again?"

"I found it in a village called Ruspolo. It's where I spent most of my childhood."

"This may be a hunch but maybe going there can fix your Teigu."

"You are so smart and beautiful...that's why I love you." Ian smiled. "What the hell?!"

"I'm not here to fight you." The red headed bandit stated tugging his bandana down from his face. "I came because I wanted to join you."

You are a stupid child. You can't just walk up to me and expect me to take you in as my assassin pupil. Assassins aren't trained, either you join as a lethal killer or you don't become an assassin at all."

"I don't know, Ian. With your Teigu defecting on you and my Teigu only having a limited amount of power...can we really afford to be picky?"

"We still have our pride to think about, Kitixen. If he can't handle me when I'm not even using my Teigu, then what chance does he stand against real assassins?"

"Please," The redhead begged. "I have a fiancée I'm supporting."

"Do you hear that, Ian? He has a fiancée he's trying to support. If you and I were getting married, wouldn't you do anything to support me?"

"We are not in love and I wouldn't support you even if we were. As for you..."

"Please don't leave me like this, I beg you."

"Don't you have any pride? Real assassins never kneel and they never beg. The only time they kneel is when their impaled through the chest or stabbed through the legs. If you really want to prove yourself of being a pupil you must fight my comrade Kitixen."

The red-haired man looked at Kitixen. The dark skin lady had a smug smile on her face. The red-haired man looked at with tribulation. His muscles told him she was only a woman, but his brain told him she was an assassin and should be feared as such. The red-haired man gave his weapon to Ian who placed it on the ground. Kitixen took no weapons out because she carried only one weapon, and that weapon was inside her body. She wouldn't use it for using it would mean the red-haired man had won.

"You're scared of me?" Kitixen moved her hand forward and the redhaired man took a step back. She saw the fear in his eyes and giggled. "I'm flattered by this. Don't worry, I won't kill you. We assassins kill...specific kinds of people. Mostly people who are corrupt and people who try to kill us. Since you have no weapon and don't appear to be rich I'll take it easy on you."

"You heard the lady. She will take it easy on you," said Ian. "A word of advice. Brute strength never matched Kitixen's skills, but if you were standing on wet ground you would carry her weight around like a stick."

The red-haired man nodded and then closed his eyes. This fight would only end if he proved his worth. He charged at Kitixen, jumped and tried hitting her with his fist. His master always taught him his right hand was stronger than his left so he would strike there. However, Kitixen jabbed two claws under his arm. The hole was not very deep but it made him cry out in pain.

"I'm sorry," Kitixen apologized. "I was only trying to defend myself and things got out of hand. I'm sorry."

"That was terrible," Ian said. "If you want to be an assassin than your opponents shouldn't be able to do that to you."

"I'm sorry," the red-haired man apologized. "I promise I will try harder."

Ian let him not do anything but rub the hole in his arm. The stupid bastard had no idea how long it would take until that hole could recover. Ian thought he was going to quit, but the man started running towards her again. He threw his punches left, right, and towards the center of her face. All those punches missed Kitixen. The redheaded man kept throwing punches towards her. She stopped them by moving her back hand.

"This is all wrong," she said. "You are trying to use muscle but we know you don't have that much strength. You need to hit faster not harder."

The red-haired man diligently did what Kitixen told him. He tried hitting her faster by thrusting his fists. It worked, he was punching his fists faster towards Kitixen. She still dodged most of his attacks. He finally hit her in the right side of her neck. She jumped up and hit his body with her butt. Her strength in her butt pushed the red-haired man into the ground.

"Assassins win battles that their enemies start by fighting in areas they know they can win," Ian told him. The red-haired man was listening while rubbing the dirt off his face. "Do you have second thoughts about going into our assassin team?"

"No."

The red-haired man was having second thoughts. He was having second thoughts about how he was going to fight Kitixen. Something about what Ian said starting getting to him. He knew Kitixen had weaknesses of her own. Someone that calm and that skinny should have weaknesses. An idea popped up in the man's head.

"A word of advice. Brute strength never matched Kitixen's skills, but if you were standing on wet ground you would carry her weight around like a stick."

Wet ground. This ground was made of dirt not mud. There was no wet moisture on that ground. He saw a footprint in the ground. It was dry yet there was one way he could change that dry footprint into a wet footprint. He rushed towards Kitixen. Kitixen simply smiled and prepared to defend herself. She did prepare herself and so did the red-haired man. He was defending himself against Kitixen. To show Kitixen disrespect he spat on the ground.

"That was not a nice thing to do," Kitixen said. "I don't want to hurt you, but I can't stand people showing me such disrespect."

Kitixen slashed her way into the red-haired man. The red-head kept spitting in the same place he was spitting before. Kitixen ripped through his arms leaving red marks of blood over his hands. The red-haired man kept spitting until his tongue was dry and there were holes in his arms. He was glanced backwards by Kitixen pushing him, but he grabbed her hand and pulled himself towards her. Kitixen growled because she couldn't move her legs. The red-haired man pointed down...she was standing in a puddle of water.

"I know why your friend told me I could lift you easier when you're in water. You can't move in water. Since there wasn't any water here I thought my spit would work."

The redhaired man raised his fist up to punch Kitixen. He didn't want to hurt her, but he had to do it if he wanted to be a part of Ian's team. He almost punched her but Ian stepped in and grabbed his hand.

"That's enough! You've proven to be capable enough of joining us."

The red haired bandit became the third member on Ian and Kitixen's team. He became their assassin. He told them his name was Reid and nothing else. They walked together to the next town, but that town was overrun with bad people. Ian wanted to assassinate every single one of them. What shame he felt for not being able to murder any of them. What his job was as an assassin and loyal member of an assassin boss was to find his leader first and foremost.

Those ideas didn't sit well for the new member.

"Ian..."

"What do you want, new recruit?"

"I want you to kill that man."

"Not out loud, Reid." Kitixen put her hand on Reid's mouth. "No one must know who we are."

Ian saw what Reid wanted him to do. He didn't care about the woman who was abused by the b*** with the nasty demeanor of hurting women. He wanted to kill the man for the simplest reason. He killed people he didn't like. They walked into a dark deserted alley; the perfect place to kill without anyone seeing or saying a word.

It was to his dismay he was too late for the battle. The man was dead and the woman he was with killed him. She had no classification of an assassin. She quivered holding a small knife drenched in blood. What she was doing never happened to assassins, people who were born to be killers. She was sitting and looking at that knife.

"If she's not an assassin why did she kill him?" Ian wondered.

The only thing Ian could guess was she was a prostitute and he's been to her many times, hurting her along the way. Most prostitutes dressed to please men but her clothes weren't provocative enough to be a prostitutes.

"Yeah, the first time is never one you forget."

That kill wasn't her business anyway. She was witnessed. She tried charging at Ian with the knife. She looked more like she wanted to get herself killed. Ian hit her with his backhand. Her stiches hurt like knives cutting in her cheek. When she could talk she made a single demand.

"Please kill me."

Ian knew killing someone because they wanted you to do so was folly. There was only one person who can kill someone because they never had a conscience to begin with. Everyone else had two personalities fighting each other to figure out if they can kill. One was the consequences of actions and the other was pleasure. Ian threw them both away when he became an assassin.

"You're a murderer," Ian said unsheathing his sword. The girl started praying. If she was someone else Ian would be smirking. Today he was going to do something different. "And when people murder someone, they run."

Ian grabbed the girl's hair and yanked on her hair. His fingers were entwined with the strings of her hair; no matter how hard he pulled the hair wouldn't get yanked out. That didn't mean she couldn't feel pain.

The woman couldn't hold back a whimper. Ian's grip was like iron, tugging on her long tresses as though he had the intention of pulling them out of their roots. The woman struggled and moved her arms in wild motions, a futile effect to deter Ian's action. Her flimsy hits did no damage to the man whose body was trained by the years of hardship.

"Ugh, ah! P-pl-please stop. It hurts. It hurts," begged the woman. Tears clouded her vision and she couldn't twist her head around to see her captor's face. In a way, this man was more terrifying than death itself. At present, he could do whatever he desired and she would be powerless to do anything. She was utterly at his mercy.

Ian said nothing, merely continued to yank at her hair. The smell of salt whiffed into his nostrils, a scent that would have made any good-natured man ashamed. But Ian was not a compassionate man, though he wasn't rotten either. After all, to be classified into one of the stereotypical categories of good and bad required emotions and drive. They were the instinctive traits of every human being. Ian, nonetheless, was different; he had given up these sentimental feelings a long time ago… in exchange for something far greater.

"P-pl-please stop!"

Just when the woman could tolerate the pain no more, her captor abruptly slackened his hold, tossing her to the side like a ragged sack. Her back slumped into the brick walls of the alleyway, causing a cry of pain to escape from her lips.

"Did you not hear me?" Ian bent down, one knee grazing the cold floor. Upon reaching eye level, his hand grabbed the woman's chin on a whim. His index finger drawing thin invisible lines across her neck, he pulled her face towards his and studied the fear etched on her countenance.

"I said that when people murder someone, they run." Ian's emotionless voice sent shivers down the woman's spine. His eyes narrowed slightly as his gaze landed on the knife that now lay beside her, the steel glistening coldly on the soil. "If you find yourself facing a strong foe, you don't beg and you don't fight back. You run. Or else you'll die."

Body still trembling from fear and pain, the woman hugged herself with her arms. "Wh-what do you want from me? Can't you just give me an easy death?"

"There is no easy death for you… or for anyone else actually. If you die, you have nothing and if you've killed someone, you carry the stain with you to the afterlife. There is no escape," responded Ian coolly, releasing her chin and standing up. His hand slowly inched towards the hilt of his blade until his fingers closed around it, though he made little movement to pull the sword out. "I suggest you run, before I give you a taste of something far worse than death. Mark my words, it'll be the true form of utter despair."

"A-ah, no… don't!" The woman didn't need to be told twice. Fear spurred her legs to move and she broke into a sprint, dashing away from Ian like a wild madman. Something told her that the man was serious. Never before had she met someone as fearful as him. The man emanated a fear-provoking aura that was enough to make her stomach churn.

Ian stood unmoving until he was certain that the woman was indeed out of sight. He reached down and picked up the knife. He ran a finger down the cutting edge, testing its sharpness.

"A pretty woman like herself shouldn't play with such dangerous toy," he muttered to no one in particular. That said, he turned around and regrouped with his comrades, who were waiting for him in a corner of the busy street. He shouldered his way pass several people and came to a stop beside Reid and Kitixen.

"Ian, you're back! How did it go?" Kitixen asked, a captivating smile curling up her lips. Any other might have been fascinated by her attractive features, but Ian simply ignored her.

"Here." With a small flick of the wrist, the knife that Ian held in his hand somersaulted through the air and landed tip first on the ground in front of Reid.  
Reid bent down and wretched the knife out. He arched his head up and looked at Ian quizzically. He kept his gaze on Ian's neck, averting eye contact. Ian's stare unnerved him, the emotionless pits of his eyes held an edge of coldness that was enough to freeze a desert.

"You killed her?" asked Reid.

"That woman was as good as dead anyway. I simply ended her misery."

"How?"

"The process matters little. What's important is that it is done." Ian ran a hand through his brown and blue hair, all the while revealing a half-truth. "In the end, the ground has been dyed crimson."

What Reid didn't know was that Ian had deceived him with a partial lie. In truth, blood was indeed spilled, though it wasn't the woman's. And since they wouldn't stumble upon the woman again, Ian's deceit was as good as the truth. The woman was definitely gone from their lives, a mere stranger of no importance.

"Are you satisfied now Reid? Remember this; we do not normally meddle with someone's affairs. This time was an exception." Ian left it concluded at that point, gesturing Kitixen to follow with a wave of his hand as he resumed his gait. Though his mind was still unsettled about his next destination, his stride was confident and even as he strolled on the street.

XXX

"Ah, yes. Thank you. Please visit again." The shopkeeper politely handed the bag to the customer, a sweet smile on her face. Then to the man who stood in front of her cart, she said, "I'm telling you sir, whatever Teigu are, we don't sell them here. This is a grocery, not a Teigu store."

"But I was told that they would be here," Ian protested, assessing the apple in his hand.

The woman took the fruit from him and wiped it on the sleeve of her tagged dress. "No, there is nothing of that sort. Now, if you would excuse yourself. You're interfering with my business."

Ian spared a glance over his shoulder and noticed that a line of people behind him. He wasn't surprised by the number. After all, the majority of the townspeople seemed to purchase their lunches here and judging from the sun's position and his own protesting stomach, Ian knew that it was probably well past midday. "I was told that they are here. I'm not leaving until I see one."

"You are being unreasonable sir. I can't sell what I don't ha—" The storekeeper never finished her sentence. A piercing cry rung from above and many heads turned to gaze at a bird with feathers as dark as night. With a screech, the crow descended at Kitixen's orders, heading straight for the cart.

The people on the streets ducked as the crow's talon dug into a loaf of bread from the cart before hoisting it into the air.

"Ah! No! Come back here you stinking thief!" Enraged, the storekeeper chased the bird, arms waving in the air in hopes of catching the little burglar. In her haste,

she left her cart full of goods unattended.

His face unreadable, Ian's gaze bore into the back of the lady until she disappeared into the crowd. Having lost sight of her, he shifted his eyes towards the corner of cart, where Reid was secretly taking some portions from the side.

Ian inwardly smirked. Their little plan had worked. Distracted by the bird, the shopkeeper and the customers were too preoccupied to notice Reid's hand that inched back and forth, pilfering items and placing them into a sack.


End file.
